The Era of Gods

Chapter 639: Chapter 639: Lobbying the Gods

“`

In this Crystal Wall Universe, the three Main Gods with Powerful Divine Power loom large, seldom engaging in direct conflicts, but the surging undercurrents of open and secret rivalries are never scarce.

The God of Revenge, backed by the main god of chaos, is on good terms with the Justice God, against whom the God of Magic also holds a grudge. Since the two Powerful Divine Powers cannot act directly, the God of Revenge is thus unable to do anything to the God of Magic.

As the saying goes, the enemy of my enemy is my friend. While the God of Magic can call on friends for help, he can also band together with the enemies of the God of Magic to take action.

Outside the Pompeii City, a young man appeared out of thin air on the road in front of the city gate, yet strangely, it seemed that none of the people coming and going noticed him. Even if someone passed by him, they would involuntarily curve around, completely unaware of anything unusual.

Pompeii City is the capital of the Pompeii Empire; its walls nearly twenty meters high, it’s a super city with a population of five hundred thousand.

Indeed, in this world lacking skyscrapers due to low productivity, a city with a population of five hundred thousand definitely qualifies as a super metropolis, even considered a famous large city among the various countries on the continent.

Of course, this can’t compare with the capital of the Ground Dwellers, located in the second layer of the Dark Territory. The Capital of Dark Region, expanded and fortified by the Gods in the Divine System using Divine Power, was entirely enclosed by a stone wall hundreds of meters thick with a diameter of over ten thousand kilometers. It had only about twenty massive gates at the upper, middle, and lower levels, directly accommodating hundreds of millions of Cave-dwellers, essentially becoming an independent kingdom.

Lin Xiao walked into Pompeii City with his hands behind his back, completely unnoticed by anyone.

He didn’t head straight for the Great Temple of Vengeance; instead, he wandered alone within the city, observing the local customs and architectural structures, comparing them with what he had seen through the Artifact Magic Net Planet to see if they matched.

As it turned out, the scenes observed by the Divine Artifact were indeed real. As he strolled through several streets of Pompeii City, everything he saw matched what he had witnessed before.

Just as he was preparing to enter the Imperial Palace for a look, he suddenly stopped. The bustling street fell silent, the entire world began to distort, colors peeled off and fell away, and everything turned to gray.

He turned around and saw not far behind him a figure shrouded in golden light descending and slowly approaching— the projection of the God of Revenge was a young man with white hair, and from afar, a voice came:

“I wonder which Highness has come to Pompeii City!”

“The God of Underworlders greets the respected Rezta, God of Revenge!”

Lin Xiao saluted and spoke the name of the approaching figure, the very God of Revenge.

It was normal; the Pompeii Empire was the fiefdom of the God of Revenge, and Pompeii City was at its heart. Mortals and priests may not be able to detect him, but the God of Revenge certainly would not be unaware of a stranger in his own home.

When he announced his name, a subtle change was visible on the God of Revenge Rezta’s face as he said in a low voice,

“So it’s the God of Underworlders. Have you come regarding the matter of the Magic God?”

Lin Xiao nodded,

“As your Highness has guessed, I am indeed here concerning the matter of the Magic God. May I inquire if your Highness is interested in hearing more?”

“I am very interested. Please, Lin Xiao Highness, come sit with me in my temple.”

“I would be honored!”

It was apparent that the God of Revenge took any matters related to the Magic God very seriously. As soon as he invited Lin Xiao to the temple, he couldn’t wait to say,

“I heard your Highness will soon be vying with the Magic God for the Magic Divine Position. Perhaps I could be of some assistance.”

Being so forthcoming, Lin Xiao also got straight to the point,

“If your Highness is willing to help, upon success, the two kingdoms wrested from your Highness by the Magic God years ago, along with an adjacent kingdom and two duchies, will all belong to your Highness. Furthermore, I would owe your Highness a favor.”

Upon hearing this, Rezta’s eyes lit up and he immediately nodded,

“Highness Lin Xiao is truly generous. Shall we bind our promise with a Styx Oath?”

Indeed, Lin Xiao’s offer was quite generous. The main territories of the Magic God comprised but one empire, five kingdoms, and several duchies. Offering three kingdoms and two duchies all at once would tempt any unrelated deity, let alone the God of Revenge, a millennia-old nemesis of the Magic God. Rezta was eager to seal their pact with a Styx Oath then and there.

The Styx Oath in this world is the same as the Styx Oath in the Toriel Multiverse; this world also has a Bottomless Abyss and the river Lethe.

The Bottomless Abyss is a pool of filth where the ugliness, evil, and chaos of a world accumulate. Any world that harbors evil and chaos will have its Bottomless Abyss.

The exact manifestation of the Bottomless Abyss might differ under the laws of different Crystal Wall Universes, but it most certainly exists.

The river Lethe follows the same principle; any world that experiences birth and death will have the river Lethe, imbued with mysterious and potent forces. The gods prefer to make oaths upon the river Lethe as a testament.

Lin Xiao, who had come with sincere intentions, found an immediate agreement with the other side. They made an oath by the name of the river Lethe, agreeing that when the Dark God System and the magic deity sequence went to war, the God of Revenge would join as an ally in the divine conflict.

After binding the Styx Oath, Lin Xiao also felt relieved and then addressed the God of Revenge:

“I have never met the Lord of Chaos, Lord Ganeir. I would be grateful if your Highness could introduce me.”

The God of Revenge immediately understood his intent and nodded,

“`

“Please come with me.”

The conflict involving two powerful divine systems, and eventually implicating several hundred True Gods, was bound to draw the attention of Powerful Divine Powers.

The Magic God and the Justice God had a very good relationship; it was uncertain if during the divine battle, the Justice God would intervene. Even if not directly interfering, mere verbal support could lead to unpredictable consequences. Many deities wishing to curry favor with the Justice God would not miss the opportunity to join the battle, which was highly unfavorable for the Dark God System.

Of course, since this battle was a contest for a divine position, the emergence of a new Powerful Divine Power would result invariably from the outcome—specifically, the exalted position of the Magic God. Neither the God of the Sun nor the Chaos God, who were not pleased with the close relationship between the Magic God and the Justice God, were likely to leave the battle unimpeded. They would probably interfere as well.

However, their interference would surely differ from that of the Justice God. For them, it was enough to prevent the success of the Magic God, they were indifferent to the outcome for Lin Xiao.

Even more so, some might directly seize his divinity should he be on the verge of defeat, thereby preventing the Magic God’s success.

To avoid this situation, Lin Xiao had to seek a patron, and there was only one choice.

Excluding the Justice God from the three great Powerful Divine Powers, the God of the Sun had only recently ascended to such power and, in terms of strength and foundation, was inferior to the other two deities. Only the Chaos God, who was likewise a veteran among Powerful Divine Powers, could contend with the Justice God.

Through the introduction of the God of Vengeance, Lin Xiao obtained the Chaos God’s permission to visit the Chaos State—divine realm of the Chaos Divine System.

Compared to the easy alliance treaty achieved with the God of Vengeance, obtaining the support of the Chaos God was tremendously difficult. Even before heading to the Chaos State, the God of Vengeance had warned him it would be troublesome, likely involving a vast sacrifice. But Lin Xiao had not anticipated that the demands of the Chaos God would be so exacting.

Or rather, the term ‘exacting’ didn’t quite cover it.

An incarnation of the Chaos God inside the divine realm met with Lin Xiao’s incarnation of God, without much ado. After hearing his purpose, the Chaos God directly stated its demand—

To swear upon the Lethe to loyally serve the Chaos God for ten thousand years!

Even for True Gods who possessed eternal life, ten thousand years was a staggeringly long period. Eternity aside, most True Gods did not live that long and would fall midway due to various reasons and challengers.

For Lin Xiao, ten thousand years represented ten thousand days in the Main World, equivalent to twenty-seven years, exceeding the twenty years Commander Xie had given him.

He tried negotiating with the Lord of Chaos, willing to offer other sacrifices in exchange for halving the time. However, although the Lord of Chaos agreed, the conditions were even more unpalatable, requiring him to renounce his divine position among the Ground Dwellers.

Five days later, Lin Xiao left the Chaos State, disappointed.

He certainly did not agree but also did not sever relations; he simply mentioned that he needed to consider it.

Half a month later, another divine incarnation of his quietly departed from the Dark Territory and, without any deities noticing, sought an audience with the third Powerful Divine Power of this world, the Lord of the Sun.

Two days later, he returned, disheartened.

Once all his incarnations had returned, Lin Xiao also became aware of what the two divine incarnations had gleaned from their journeys.

“Perhaps I should not have been in such a rush!”

The Lord of the Sun had not proposed any harsh terms, but for some reason, He straightforwardly declined to offer any assistance, even though Lin Xiao was willing to pay a significant price.

This outcome was unexpected for Lin Xiao; he had anticipated challenges but not outright failure.

Yes, to him it was a failure; setting aside the Lord of the Sun, the demands made by the Lord of Chaos were impossible for him to accept.

Without the support of an equally powerful divine strength, there was no way he could defeat the Master of Magic.

Of course, he would not be defeated either.

With more than thirteen billion Ground Dwellers offering the Power of Faith, even if the Justice God took action himself, he could do nothing against Lin Xiao.

With sufficient Divine Power backing him, even if two Powerful Divine Powers attacked his divine realm at once, he wouldn’t be afraid; he could hold his ground.

Not to mention conflict in the mortal world, the peculiar terrain of the Dark Territory could minimize the advantages of the Surface Races to the lowest point; the Surface Races simply couldn’t penetrate it.

This was Lin Xiao’s confidence in striving for the magical divine position, even in the worst-case scenarios he would have more than enough to protect himself.

But merely protecting himself was not enough; he needed to expand, to seize a divine position, and to ascend as Powerful Divine Power. Only then could he conquer the world.

A pity his True Body was not present, and coupled with the loss of favor from many big players from the fifth War Zone previously, there were no means to unravel the situation from external factors.

But his True Body was currently in the Wizard World and could not return, hence it could not offer assistance.

“Or maybe this way?”

Lin Xiao pondered deeply, considering if he should adopt a different approach.

Since the Magic God had the Justice God as a backer, along with many friends’ assistance, and the neighboring Chaos God who would inevitably interfere down the line, as well as the enigmatic stance of the God of the Sun, it was fraught with obstacles for both him and the Magic God to ascend to Powerful Divine Power. He believed that even with the support of the Justice God, the Magic God could not ascend to Powerful Divine Power, or else he would have done so a long time ago, given their relationship.